Trump dominance in Iowa polls with key bloc shouldn’t be believed: Bob Vander Plaats

Bob Vander Plaats, Family Leader Foundation president and CEO, is skeptical about the large support for former President Donald Trump among Iowa evangelical voters.

“I don’t believe them, and there’s a reason I don’t believe them — because it does not match up at all to what I’m hearing on the ground,” Vander Plaats told the Washington Post in an interview Thursday.

FIVE TIMES THE HUNTER BIDEN INFLUENCE PEDDLING STORY CHANGED

The latest NBC News-Des Moines Register-Mediacom Iowa poll released Monday shows that Trump’s sizable lead in the early voting state is fueled by evangelical and first-time likely caucusgoers.

The former president is leading, with 51% of people likely to participate in the caucuses choosing him as their top option, while Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has 19% first-choice support, and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley has 16%.

Trump is backed by 51% of evangelical Christians and 63% of first-time caucusgoers. Fifty-nine percent of self-identified Republicans support the former president.

Despite saying he has been Trump’s friend for 12 years and voted for him twice, Vander Plaats supported DeSantis last month, giving the Florida governor his highly coveted endorsement as an influential Iowa evangelical leader.

“I believe my endorsement of Gov. DeSantis is not against Donald Trump,” Vander Plaats said. “But I do believe the former president presents the highest hurdle for us to win in 2024.”

Vander Plaats said he does not know if Trump’s candidacy will create division among evangelical leaders and evangelical voters.

“There’s some evangelicals [who] believe Trump of 2016 is going to be Trump of 2024,” Vander Plaats said. “And I get that. I understand where they’d be like, ‘I’d rather have Trump than Joe Biden. I want to bring Trump back because Trump was good.’ I’m not discounting that stuff at all. I’m just saying I’m looking at electability and who’s going to move us forward.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Vander Plaats acknowledged that Trump’s name recognition and “disrupter” status matter to evangelicals, and they likely are not looking to nominate someone other than what they already know.

“You’re not going to leave him until you’re sold on somebody,” Vander Plaats said. “There’s also part of the evangelical community, which I fully understand, they want a disrupter. They just want a disrupter: ‘This is wrong, and we need a disrupter just to shake it up.’ And I think they view Trump being a champion in that.”